This invention relates to a feeder for receiving a large cylindrical bale for distributing the bale to a number of animals which are particularly but not exclusively cattle. Round bale feeders are well known and manufactured in large numbers. The feeders are designed to receive a single cylindrical bale of feed material which is confined within the bale feeder for access by a number of animals surrounding the bale feeder. The most simple feeders of this type comprise simply a plurality of circular rails which are connected to form a cylindrical body of a size to fit around the periphery of the bale. The connecting members comprise either vertical bars or slant bars so that the animal can pass its head through the bars to reach the feed from the bale which is confined within the feeder. Often a sheet metal skirt is provided from the lowermost ring which rests upon the ground to a height of the order of eighteen inches to assist in confining the feed material inside the feeder. Bale feeders of this type are manufactured in large numbers and by a large number of manufacturers. They do however a number of faults. Firstly there is a tendency for the animal particularly at the early stages of eating from a bale to pull material outwardly from the bale to the outside of the frame and to drop some of the material in that area outside of the frame wherein it becomes trampled and spoiled. Secondly the frame is prone to damage from being pushed around in the feed lot by the animals. The animal can press its shoulders against the bars and push forwardly in an attempt to reach feed within the frame and this pushing action often causes premature failure of the welded connections.
One type of feeder which is becoming more popular is that known as a "tombstone" feeder which is generally of the same construction as previously described except that the feeder is formed by a lower band reaching up approximately to the shoulders of the animal and a plurality of "tombstones" which project upwardly from the upper edge of the band. Each tombstone comprises a U-shaped frame member which is generally tubular in construction with the U-shape inverted to define a curved upper edge and the legs extending downwardly and connected to the band. This type of construction tends to be more rugged than the hoop type construction. In addition in between each tombstone and the next tombstone is a path or channel within which the animal can place its head with that path being open at the top so that the animal can lift its head out freely without contacting an upper rail or hoop of the feeder.
One example of a feeder of this general type is shown in British patent No. 1292185 which includes the outer band and tombstones but is of a modified construction in that it includes a hopper feeder arrangement centrally of the outer band. The tombstone feeder does however continue to have the problem of the waste material since the animal can pull the material outwardly from the bale to the outside of the feeder where it is trampled and wasted.
One improved arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,609 (Delichte) which shows an arrangement of the hoop type feeder in which an outer frame is provided having bars spaced sufficiently to allow the animal to pass its head between the bars into the area between the outer frame and an inner frame with the inner frame confining the bale away from the outer frame. In this way the animal reaches in through the outer frame to the bale confined inside of the inner frame and tends to eat with its head between the inner and outer frames so that any material falling from the mouth of the animal collects between the inner and outer frames and thus cannot be trampled. This feeder has therefore achieved some success since it resolves the problem of feed waste and significantly reduces waste to an amount which is economically viable despite the increased cost of the device due to the increased complexity.
This device does however have particular problems in that it is larger than conventional feeders and cannot be broken down into simple parts so that transportation of the large bulky feeder becomes very difficult and expensive. Conventionally feeders are often broken down into angularly separated parts which can be stacked readily one on top of the other allowing large numbers of feeders to be transported and subsequently bolted together to form the complete circular feeder. This transportation system is not possible in the improved feeder of Delichte leading to further increases in cost relative to conventional feeders
As the cost of feed increases and improved cost efficiencies become necessary, more attention is being given to feed saving and hence improvements to the conventional feeder are becoming urgent. In addition the tombstone feeder is becoming more popular in view of its above stated advantages.